Automatically-lubricating journal box



M. F. BAUR Dec. 23, 1930.

Filed Nov. 8, 1928 mntoz Patented Dec. 23, 1930 UNrrsn STATES PATENT OFFICE MAX F. BAUR, OF GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, ASSIGNOR TO ISOTHERMOS CORIEORA'IIONA OF AMBER-ICA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE 'AUTOMATICALLY-L'UBRICATING JOUR-NAL BOX Application filed November 8, 1928, Serial No. 317,909, and in Switzerland September 28, 1928.

The invention relates to an improvement in automatically lubricating` journal boxes in which the oil contained in a reservoir in the bottom of the box is picked up by radial blades or paddles fixed to the :end of the journal and ultimately delivered to the bearing; the object of the invention being to provide means on the upper, inner wall of the box that will be operative to divert oil,

which has become viscid because of low temperature and with a consequent tendency to adhere to the inner circumferential wall of the box when carried thereabout by the rotating blades, away from the box wall and 5 onto the bearing. i

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in sec- 4 in the bottom of which is a reservoir or well 5 to contain a body of oil 0 through which the ends of the blade or paddle 10 pass, 1when the latter, which is fastened to the end of the axle, is rotated by the axle, with the result that oil is picked up by the ends of the blade or paddle and, according to the speed of the latter, either is dropped directly therefrom onto the bearing 2 from above or is thrown against the inner face of the top of chamber 4 by centrifugal force and guided by grooves 6 in the walls of said chamber onto the bearing.

This arrangement effects perfect automatic lubrication of the journal and its bearing so long as the oil is freely iiuent, but, .when low temperature conditions cause the cil to thick-` en and become viscid, the effect of the rotation o f the distributing blade or paddle 10, especially When the speed of rotation is high, is to draw the oil in a mass about the inner circum-:

In order to overcome this difiiculty, means are provided inthe upper part of the chamber 4 to break up and divert this rotating ring of oil toward the bearing, so that gravity may be y ,effective to direct the viscid oil onto the top of the bearing 2. Y

An effective means to this end is in the form of an inwardly extending barrier or abutment, such as a taper faced rib 7 extending transversely of the highest portion of the inner wall of chamber 4, against which the moving sheet of viscid oil impinges and is thereby turned or diverted downward, as shown in Figure 2, so that the force of gravity will direct the mass onto the bearing 2.

Obviously the abutment aforesaid may be of various structural forms and may be Varied as to size and the extent of its projection toward the bearing, but the preferred form is that of a tapered rib located midway of the series of grooves 6 in the top of chamber 4 and extending transversely of the chamber, which serve to direct the oil onto the bearing under normal conditions.

That I claim is:

lf A journal box including in combination "i with the axle having a lubricant distributing member thereon, a plurality of lubricant guiding anddirecting ribs formed at the top inner face of the box above the path of the distributing member, and a lubricant precipitating member arranged at the middlel portion of said ribs thereby to direct lubricant onto the bearing.

2. In a journal box, the combination of an axle having a lubricant distributing member CTI thereonJ and means for directing lubricant onto the bearing, said means comprising an inclined top Wall of the box having a plurality of lubricant guiding and directing ribs formed thereon, and a lubricant precipitating rib having a horizontal dripping edge extending across the top of the box and located in the path of lubricant thrown from said lubricant distributingmember.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

MAX F. BAUR. 

